Invacare Hospital Bed Buying Guide

By Maurice

Invacare Corporation is an American company that makes and globally distributes non-acute medical equipment, including wheelchairs, scooters, walkers, pressure care items, and hospital and home hospital beds.

The company was founded in 1885 as the Worthington Company and is headquartered in Elyria, Ohio. In the 1970s, the company’s vice president of Marketing, Malichi Mixon, led the company into diagnostic imaging.

In 1978, Johnson & Johnson acquired Technicare, the company that had owned Worthington for several years. Mixon, wishing to run his own company, raised $7.8 million and bought Worthington in December 1979. Today, growing by acquisition, Invacare has become a global multi-billion dollar medical product company.

In 2013, the company entered into a consent decree regarding several of its products and facilities with the federal government. By 2017, the Food & Drug Administration informed Invacare that it had met the consent decree’s terms and could resume design work in Elyria, Ohio. Accordingly, the FDA lifted the consent decree regarding the Elyria facility.

Invacare Home Hospital Beds

Invacare offers a full range of hospital beds, including hi-low [sic] beds, full and semi-electric beds, bariatric beds, and adjustable home beds.

Invacare Hi-Lo Full Electrics

The Invacare Carroll CS& Hi-Lo Hospital Bed Set is one of its best sellers. Retailing at full price for $5,000, the bed features Invacare’s Auto Contour, which raises the head and knees to keep patients in place while adjusting their position. Mobility-on-Demand lets caregivers lock or unlock the bed’s casters at any height.

Finally, the bed goes up and down with no horizontal movement, thus avoiding damage to walls and floors. The $5,000 price tag may seem daunting, but it can be found on sale for as low as $2,099.

More reasonably priced models include the Etude HC Hi-Lo Hospital Bed Set (list price $2,900; sale price as low as $1,424) and the Carroll CS3 Hi-Lo Hospital Bed Set (list price $4,000; sale price as low as $1,799).

The ETUDE features Shear Management Technology to reduce shear and friction. The bed can be lowered to an industry-best 7.8 inches in height. It offers an 8-function remote that allows the user or the caregiver to lock out some functions for increased safety. The bed offers a weight capacity of 365 pounds and, according to Consumer Affairs, is listed at $1,349, a price lower than recorded in Invacare’s catalog.

The Carroll CS3 Hi-Lo offers the Maxi-Lock floor lock system that secures the bed to the floor in all elevated positions. In other words, you can only move the bed when it is in its lower position. The CS3 assembles quickly without tools for faster completion.

Consumer Affairs rated the Etude among the best hospital beds for 2022. It noted the range of sleep deck height and appreciated the eight functions of the hand controls, as well as its ability for the caregiver to impose a lockout function. Consumer Affairs noted the ease of assembly and quiet operation.

According to Consumer Affairs, Invacare offers a five-year warranty on the frame, three years on the actuators, and two years on the pendant hand control and the electronics.

Other Invacare hospital beds include the Full-Electric Homecare Bed, offered at just under $2,000. Using a hand-held pendant-style remote control, the bed allows patients and caregivers to make adjustments easily. The durable bed panels are impact and scratch-resistant, and easily washable.

The casters are made of rubber and will not mark floors. The ergonomic control pendant has a heavy-duty cord, and the bed also supplies a manual crank for power failures.

In March 2022, Consumer Affairs rated the Invacare IVC Electric Bed Package among the best on the market. The rated package included a steel bed frame, foam mattress, bed rails, and electric motor system. The bed offers head and foot springs and washable end panels that are scratch and impact resistant.

The package also includes an ergonomic pendant-style hand remote with a quick-rel button. The remote not only adjusts the bed, but it can move the bed rail lock guard, assist, and transfer positions. Consumer Affairs appreciated the bed’s attention to the needs of both the patient and the caregiver. The package offers a five-year manufacturer’s warranty on the bed, two years on the welds and the foam mattress, and one year on the mechanical and electrical parts.

Also, in 2022, TerryCralle rated the Invacare Full Electric Hospital Bed with Mattress as the best all-around hospital bed for the year, stating that the bed had “all the standard features you need and a great level of quality that doesn’t make the price rocket sky-high.”

Stating that the package they rated listed at about $900, the editors noted that Invacare offered many options for this model, including different rails and different mattresses – or no mattress. These choices can, the editors said, affect the price.

According to TerryCralle, the full-electric bed has a weight capacity of 350 pounds and a basic welded steel frame. Its elevation adjusts from 15 inches to 23 inches, and the bed can be adjusted at the head and knees. The editors noted that while the bed is not attractive, it is highly rated by consumers for its extremely quiet motor and ease of operation.

The bed comes with a waterproof vinyl mattress, but since it is a standard Twin XL size, it can easily be replaced, or you can choose one of the other options offered by Invacare. Invacare offers a limited warranty of five years for the welds, two years for mechanical and electric parts, and one year for the mattress and rails.

Invacare Bariatric Beds

As the size of the average American continues to increase (more than two-thirds of Americans are technically either obese or overweight). Based on these facts, the market for bariatric beds designed for the heavier patient has grown and continues to grow rapidly. Invacare offers three bariatric bed packages and accessories for use with those beds.

The least expensive package, priced at just under $13,000, is the BARPKG750-2, which includes a heavy-duty, full-electric bed frame that can support someone of up to 675 pounds (plus mattress weight). The package comes with a standard battery backup. Keeping the patient in mind, the bed can expand to a full 48 inches in width and 88 inches in length, with mattresses available to match.

The “actuators” which adjust the height, head, and foot sections are extremely quiet. The bed provides four locking casters, including steering casters at the foot of the bed.

Invacare’s more deluxe bariatric bed package is the BAR750-BARMATT39, list priced at $14,148.62. The BAR750 features a heavy-duty, full-electric frame that can hold up to 750 pounds (675 in patient weight). The bed can expand to 48 inches wide and 88 inches long. Its movement is controlled by four ultra-quiet actuators, which easily reposition the height, head, and foot.

The casters on the BAR750 lock and those at the foot are designed for steering the bed during relocation. The bed has separate motors at the head and foot and is controlled by a pendant remote. The BAR750 operates quietly and includes battery backup, bed ends, and half rails as part of the standard package. Three mattresses, all meeting fire safety regulations, are available.

Invacare Manual Beds

Invacare’s home hospital bed catalog also includes manual beds. Manual beds are considerably less expensive than semi or full-electric beds, but all adjustment is made with a hand crank. Invacare offers replacement items for its manual beds, but its current online catalog does not list any manual beds as such. Medlab Gear, however, does list the Invacare Manual Hospital Bed Set at $598. The Home Care Manual bed is easy to set up, maintain, and operate.

Manual hand cranks adjust the upper and lower body areas and the bed height. The bed end panels are durable and scratch-resistant, while the reinforced headsprings allow for maximum strength and patient support. The bed provides two lockable casters to hold it in place.

Where to Buy Invacare Hospital Beds

Among others, Homecare Hospital Beds, a seller offering Drive, Joerns, Graham Field, and SonderCare, also sells Invacare. Invacare is also sold online by American Quality Health Products, SpinLife.com, MedLab Gear, SonderCare, Rehabmart.com, Amazon, and Walmart.com.

Consider using the “provider locator” feature on Invacare’s website for in-person purchases, there is a “provider locator” feature on Invacare’s website. Even in this author’s obscure Midwestern location, two dealers were available within 25 miles of my ZIP code.

Contacting Invacare

Invacare has recently released a new website, highlighting the full range of its products. The site also provides contact information among all the product details and the provider locator button. You can call Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST at 1-800-333-6900 for customer service.

You may also reach them at ecommsupport@invacare.com. For those interested in professional information, the site also offers a Marketing Resource Center. Invacare can be found on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter.

Wrapping Up

Invacare continues to be a global leader in making home medical devices. Its goal is to produce patient-centered products. The marketplace has generally recognized Invacare’s success in achieving this mission. In addition to beds, it offers mobility and seating products, custom manual wheelchairs under a variety of names, and seating and position products.

Invacare also offers pressure relieving products, mattress systems, oxygen concentrators, and personal care equipment. Invacare continues as a market leader in the home hospital products field.